For Virginia Board of Medicine, a quasi-public and quasi-private agency under the laws of, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Randolph Clements, DPM, in his individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in his capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, Kamlesh Dave, MD, in his individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in his capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, Siohan Dunnavant, MD, in her individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in her capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, William Harp, MD, in his individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in his capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, Jane Piness, MD, in her individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in her capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, Wayne Reynolds, DO, in his individual capacity as a competitor with, chiropractors in Virginia, and in his capacity as a member, of the Virginia Medical Board, Defendants: Erin Laura Barrett, LEAD ATTORNEY, John David Gilbody, Stephen John Sovinsky, Office of the Attorney General (Richmond), Richmond, VA; Sarah Oxenham Allen, Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, VA; Vincent Mark Amberly, Amberly Law, Leesburg, VA.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CLAUDE M. HILTON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendants' Randolph Clements, Kamlesh Dave, Siohan Dunnavant, William Harp, Jane Piness, Wayne Reynolds, and Virginia Board of Medicine (collectively " Defendants") Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendants are members of the Board, sued in their individual capacity as competitors with chiropractors in Virginia and in their capacity as members of the Board, as well as the Board itself. Plaintiff Yvoune Petri (" Petri" or " Plaintiff") is a Doctor of Chiropractic. Plaintiff's Complaint alleges the Defendants entered an agreement to allocate the relevant service markets and exclude chiropractors in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, as well as intentional interference with existing contracts, prospective contracts, and prospective economic advantage in violation of Virginia state law. Plaintiff concedes that the state tort claims are without merit. Accordingly, Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on Counts II, III, and IV.

Plaintiff has been a licensed chiropractor in Virginia since 2006, practicing in Vienna, Virginia. In her practice, she incorporates complementary and alternative medicine, functional neurology, and functional medicine in order to address underlying health issues such as neuropathy, autoimmune conditions, Type 2 diabetes, and thyroid conditions. Defendant Virginia Board of Medicine was established by the Commonwealth of Virginia to regulate all forms of medicine, including chiropractic.

In February 2013, the Board conducted a formal hearing and determined that Petrie was in violation of various sections of the Virginia Code regulating the practice of medicine. Specifically, Defendants found that Plaintiff advertised and promoted her services in a manner that was false and misleading by holding herself out as a nutritionist able to " reverse" Type 2 diabetes and treat thyroid and metabolic disorders; holding herself out as a registered dietician and nutritionist without meeting the criteria set forth in Virginia law; and acting outside of the scope of chiropractic by offering diet and nutrition counseling, ordering blood, saliva, and urine testing, and performing procedures with a laser, all beyond the scope of chiropractic under Virginia law. The Board voted to sanction Petrie by suspending her license to practice chiropractic for six months and imposing a $25, 000 fine. Plaintiff appealed this decision to the Virginia Court of Appeals, which upheld the sanction.

In addition to her appeal of the sanction, Plaintiff has brought suit in this Court alleging the Board's actions violated federal antitrust law. Count I alleges that the Defendants entered an agreement to allocate the relevant service markets to medical doctors and excluded chiropractors, including Plaintiff, from competing in those markets in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1. Plaintiff asks that this Court set aside the Board's Order against her as an unlawful restraint on interstate trade and commerce and enjoin Defendants from limiting the scope of chiropractic practice beyond the limitations under Virginia law. Plaintiff further seeks treble damages for anticompetitive conduct.

To determine whether the anticompetitive agreement unreasonably restrains competition, the court must analyze " the competitive significance of the restraint." National Soc'y of Prof'l Eng'rs v. United States, 435 U.S. 679, 692, 98 S.Ct. 1355, 55 L.Ed.2d 637 (1978). There are two ways to show that a restraint is unreasonable: by showing that the nature of the restraint is per se unreasonable, or by showing that the restraint is unreasonable under a more fact-specific, analytical approach known as the " Rule of Reason" analysis. Id.

Agreements that are per se unreasonable have such a " pernicious effect on competition and lack of any redeeming virtue" that they " are conclusively presumed to be unreasonable and therefore illegal without elaborate inquiry as to the precise harm they have caused or the business excuse for their use." N. Pac. Ry. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1, 5, 78 S.Ct. 514, 2 L.Ed.2d 545 (1958). Thus, the focus in this analysis is whether the effect and purpose of the practice " facially appears to be one that would always or almost always tend to restrict competition and decrease output." Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broad. Sys., Inc., 441 U.S. 1, 19-20, 99 S.Ct. 1551, 60 L.Ed.2d 1 (1979). Courts make " categorical judgments" that certain practices are illegal per se, such as price fixing, division of markets, group boycotts, and tying arrangements. Cont'l Airlines, Inc. v. United Airlines, Inc., 277 F.3d 499, 509 (4th Cir. 2002) (quoting Nw. Wholesale Stationers, Inc. v. Pac. Stationery & Printing Co., 472 U.S. 284, 289, 105 S.Ct. 2613, 86 L.Ed.2d 202 (1985)). " [T]he per se label should not be assigned without carefully considering substantial benefits and procompetitive justifications." Arizona v. Maricopa Cnty. Med. Soc., 457 U.S. 332, 364, 102 S.Ct. 2466, 73 L.Ed.2d 48 (1982). And the Supreme Court has cautioned against condemning the rules of professional associations as per se unreasonable. F.T.C. v. Indiana Fed'n of Dentists, 476 U.S. 447, 458, 106 S.Ct. 2009, 90 L.Ed.2d 445 (1986).

The court finds that the Rule of Reason analysis is the appropriate analysis to judge the reasonableness of the alleged restraint in this case. There is general reluctance to employ the per se unreasonable analysis when dealing with a professional association. Further, the per se unreasonable analysis should only be used to evaluate a restraint " if courts can predict with confidence that it would be invalidated in all or almost all instances under the rule of reason." Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877, 886-87, 127 S.Ct. 2705, 168 L.Ed.2d 623 (2007).

Plaintiff has shown no anticompetitive effects on the relevant market, nor how the procompetitive benefits of the Board's actions do not justify the potential anticompetitive effects. Plaintiff argues that the competition is harmed both by the harm to an individual competitor, as well the exertion of the Board's market power to exclude a competitor. Both arguments, however, state the same claim: Petri's individual injury constitutes harm to the overall competition. But the law is clear that " the elimination of a single competitor, standing alone, does not prove the anticompetitive effect necessary to establish antitrust injury." HCI Technologies, Inc. v. Avaya, Inc., 241 Fed.Appx. 115, 123 (4th Cir. 2007) (quoting Military Servs. Realty, Inc. v. Realty Consultants of Virginia, 823 F.2d 829, 832 (4th Cir. 1987)). Petri has shown no evidence that pricing in the market was altered or that ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.